E36 Powerdyne / Supercharging questions

[bmw_mc]

Hi all, I was considering an E30 for autocross duty, but I remembered I had a Powerdyne in my closet. I need to find a car to put the blower on, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to do a 92-95 325i because of OBD1, cheaply found cars, etc. Before I get into it, I have a couple of questions to those in the know.

1) AFAIK, all I'll need is the unit,**bracket**, **crank pulley** CAI, TB inlet pipe, Ford injectors, boost gauge, and an Aux. fuel pump piggyback. Anything else I'll need?
- ** requires fabrication

2) Does anyone know the specs on the bracket? How about a place (ESS, Dinan, custom diy'er) that will sell me the bracket only?

3) Any shops in/near NC/Va good for Dyno-tuning and custom ECU mapping? Or, does anyone offer a chip that is already made for this?

Thanks in advance. Like I said, I don't even have the car yet, but I have the blower unit and work with BMW's all day, so it seems like a natural project...

[stuartyp]

installed it yet so I can take pictures of the brackets. There is a pulley, idler (tensioner) pulley, injectors, (don't know what size) there is a bigger and adjustable fuel pressure regulator, a resistor for the mass air flow sensor, a blow off valve or wastegate, (don't know exactly what it is).

The resistor modifies the mass flow sensor output so that the computer thinks less air is coming into the engine at all times. This corrects for the bigger injectors. I think the one I have is 47 ohm at 5% tolerance. The colors on it are yellow, violet, brown, and then gold.

There is supposed to be a chip for the OBD1 cars. This kit I have is supposed to have been a Dinan kit, (and judging from the poor fit and finnish I believe it). The Dinan chip is supposed to work the best of what chips are available and has room for you to raise the boost up from the standard issue 6-7 psi to 9 psi. Mine didn't include the chip as it was on an OBD2 car before. Dinan wants $600 for a chip. I think Confirti does a chip also. I asked here a while ago for info on one and got no reply.

I can send you pics of what it looked like installed on the last guys car and even a video of it running, but that wouldn't help you any I suppose. I think he even sent me pics of the dissasembly. If I have those I can send them too. In a few days I can send you hi-res pics of the bracket. Another bracket that comes off the top of the SC and goes over to the Vanos area for stability was forgotten, and is supposedly on the way now. Should be easy to fab one up though. I could probably trace out a paper template of my main bracket with measurements of any parts that are not on the same plane. The SC and the bracket have just been sitting on my office floor at work since it arrived a month ago.

Shoot me your e-mail addy so I can send you pics.

Most of my money I spent on beer and women, the rest I just wasted.

[johnfuston]

I, for one, would like to see them. Rgds...
- John
'92 850i Twin Turbo

[johnfuston]

I built a one-off twin turbo for my car and might be able to lend some practical experience. Feel free to contact me here or offline with any questions you may have. Rgds...
- John
'92 850i Twin Turbo

[bmw_mc]

My girlfriend's parents live in Midlo, I live in NC. Regarding tuners, I could transport it to Va. and spend a few days, heh. Thanks for the offer, I'll be in touch if I need anything. I think your knowledge may be overkill, since installing a powerdyne is about 1/10th as complicated as a custom one-off twin-turbo setup. :)

[stuartyp]

the SC is at work. I will be there later to mow the lawn. I may have time to take pics then, may not. The car shown is a 525i. I have very little room left on my roadfly webspace, so loading up 3-4 hi-res pics simply isn't possible. I can e-mail anything of quality directly. This is the only still shot I have of the stuff installed though.


Most of my money I spent on beer and women, the rest I just wasted.

[bmw_mc]

donky[REMOVE]fresh12@hot[REMOVE]mail.com
is the only one I have that's not spammed-to-death.

I'd really appreciate the bracket pics and any measurements that are available. Not that hard to do a cardboard mockup, but if I could get your basic shape and some measurements, it would save me quite a few steps with my template. Then I could just fine tune it before I have it made.

Thanks!

[johnfuston]

One of the guys I met at RevHigh's Dyno Day made his from 1/2" aluminum plate. Used a jig saw to cut the basic shape and then used a round-over bit in his router to "shape" the darned thing. Such beautiful work that it looked like it was milled on a CNC machine. Amazing what shallow pockets and a little creativity can do isn't it? Rgds...
- John
'92 850i Twin Turbo

[johnfuston]

...it's always nice to meet other DIYers as there's not that many of us left. Good luck on the project. I do hope you'll give an update now and then as things progress. Rgds...
- John
'92 850i Twin Turbo

[johnfuston]

Interested to see whatever you've got, Stuart. Rgds...
- John
'92 850i Twin Turbo

[buldogge]

Hey there... I have made quite a few 5.75" crank pulleys for Powerdyne owners...can equate to 8.5-9psi.

If you are interested you can email me at:

buldogge sbcglobal net

Mark in St. Louis

[stuartyp]

project. I haven't even been to work in 4 days or so. Will go in to work for a couple of hours in the morning.

Most of my money I spent on beer and women, the rest I just wasted.

[bmw_mc]

Thanks, so where do I get the 1/2" aluminum plate?

[johnfuston]

Best thing to do is look in the phone book for machine shops. Ring them and ask them to recommend a local supplier.

Or if you've got really deep pockets, you can always give the folks at www.onlinemetals.com a jingle. They're quite proud of their stuff and price it accordingly. The one good thing is that they always have what you need when you need it. :-)

Rgds...
- John
'92 850i Twin Turbo

[stuartyp]

or about 400 thousandts I'd guess. I don't have a mic here at the office. 1/2" might be a bit much. Better to brace it in the direction of the belt than to try to make the bracket so rigid that it can take all of the load all on it's own. At some point you reach the failure point of the parts of the engine you are bolting the bracket too. That could get ugly. If you have a good mechanical sense you'll figure out what is best to do. I'm just mentioning some thoughts that had crossed my mind.

I'm sure there are some metal supply places around, look in the yellow pages. They will have a scrap section where pieces of sheet metal and tubeing etc that were cut off other things has been sorted and stocked. Ask someone there to help you find a stronger type, one that has been anodized for instance. When you tell them what it is for they usually can direct you to what type to buy. Take a set of dial calipers(if you have a set) or a tape measure and buy a piece of sheet aluminum that is 12" x 13". That is the maximum dimensions of the one I have. I will unbolt the one I have and make a template for you and send it to you in the mail.

Give me your address. Once apart I will take a more detailed picture of the tensioner bracket assembly.

Most of my money I spent on beer and women, the rest I just wasted.

[johnfuston]

Can I get a copy of that template as well? No E36 in the lineup yet but would like to have for my "library" just the same. Rgds...
- John
'92 850i Twin Turbo

[stuartyp]

Not sure how to make a copy of it. I suppose I will coppy both halves and tape them together. I'll check to see if the copy machine shrinks it at all. Faxes do.

Most of my money I spent on beer and women, the rest I just wasted.

[stuartyp]

Most of my money I spent on beer and women, the rest I just wasted.

[jb]

hey there....I am wondering I have a powerdyne 9lb on my 85 cougar.....92 stock mustang 5.0...what would the stock crank pulley be on this engine? And the size of the one off the old 302(throttle body ingected) engine that was in the car.and used it...i am not sure if I did or not.